This is a spiritual practice. It has been given to Humanity so it might be able to respond to the growing planetary necessity for Human Unity and Cooperation. We are encouraged to undertake Steps to Knowledge. This site is a simple aid to introduce people to this practice. There is much more to learn for anyone who becomes a student. As a Steps student since June 27, 1999, I am a witness for its benefit. Tom Christoffel

10/12/14

Step 285 - In stillness all things can be known. Entry for Step 284 - Stillness is my gift to the world.

IN STILLNESS ALL THINGS CAN BE KNOWN, for the mind
is able to respond to Knowledge. Then, Knowledge will find expression in your
specific thoughts and activities. Your mind was meant to serve Knowledge, as
your body was meant to serve your mind. In this, the contribution from your True
Home is able to express itself in the world of exile. Here Heaven and Earth
touch, and when they touch, true communication begins to exist, and the
transference of Knowledge is made into the world.

YOU ARE PREPARING TO BECOME A VEHICLE FOR KNOWLEDGE
so that all things that you accomplish, great and small, unique and mundane,
will express the presence of Knowledge. Therefore, your function in the world
is not grand; it is simple. It is what is expressed through your activity that
is important, for the simplest action done with Knowledge is a great teaching
of Knowledge and will impress and
affect all minds in the world.

THEREFORE, REMIND YOURSELF UPON THE HOUR TODAY of
the importance of cultivating stillness and the immediate freedom from anxiety
and conflict that it provides for you. Allow your deeper practice periods today
to be times of true devotion, where you come to the altar of God to give
yourself. This, in essence, is the true church. This is the true chapel. This
is where prayer becomes real and where your mind, which is an expression of
God’s Mind, in stillness, humility and openness, yields itself to its great
source. In this, God blesses you and gives to you a gift to give to the world
which is the result of your own development.

ALL THIS IS TRANSPIRED IN STILLNESS, for in
stillness the transference of Knowledge can be completed. This is absolutely
natural and totally beyond your comprehension. Therefore, you need not spend
energy and time speculating about it, wondering about it or trying to comprehend
its mechanism. This is not necessary. It is only required that you be a
recipient of Knowledge. Do not stand apart and attempt to understand it.

DO NOT STAND APART TODAY BUT ENTER STILLNESS, for
this is God’s gift to you. In stillness the transference of Knowledge will be made.
With this, you become a vehicle for Knowledge in the world.

Step 284 says: “Come
closer to the realm of stillness, which is the realm of Knowledge, for there
you will find peace and certainty. This is God’s gift to you, and this will be
your gift to the world.”

This is a mysterious explanation for a mysterious Step.

The journal on this day, April 26, 2000 is dealing
with stillness and the un-stillness of my life. Your journal may include the
same.

9:45
a.m. At work – feeling ill, weak, upset stomach, stiff, out of place, confused,
ambivalent and lost. Loss of status hurts – what I can do? I'm disconnected
from the world – ready to float away. It is amazing that the world runs at all.
What is the real value of the region? I'm
confused – I want to be useful – stillness is very easy – too easy it seems.

5:35
p.m. At home. Ambivalence rages. I do nothing. What is my meaning, purpose,
direction?

My
meaning – I am a soul who intends to serve the creator. The personal dedication
to this is deep, but on the surface I am confused. Right now my life
demonstrates survival. The purpose I believe I have is to promote cooperation
through regions. My direction is to understand and promote my vision. It turns
out to be difficult to express the beneficial aspects of these regional
relationships. Not only are regions invisible, but the spatial relationships of
geography.

With
maps we symbolically remote view the world. It seems that very few can do this
well. So – the local nature of life is what dominates. People are not aware of
their environment.

So –
the challenge of finding a suitable venue for my research and promotion of
regionswork is enormous – tiring still – insights & reflections come daily.

8:30
p.m. Spent the last 90 minutes surfing on job sites. It is encouraging – though
my job isn't out there.

I
want to build regions work. It seems I don't have the energy I need – or the
focus to articulate it. Still – I think – New Regions – Hot Regions – Invisible
Planet

11:55
p.m. View 2100 – draft #2 – I felt that if I could complete it I'd have done my
work. I didn't. Would be nice to be a
safely kept do-nothing guru. Our rock like Patience
in the woods – such imagination…

Step 284 says: “Come closer to the realm of stillness, which is the
realm of Knowledge, for there you will find peace and certainty. This is God’s
gift to you, and this will be your gift to the world.” A beautiful thought. Let us continue.

NNC

P.S. At Step 285, we are into Part Two of Steps, so
if you’ve found this and find some appeal in this or other Steps, you should
really go to the beginning blog post. From here you learn about Steps to Knowledge and
can begin it on the day that makes sense and then progress as needed. You can
use the posts on this blog as a companion if it helps. They will remain in
order in the archives - one per Step.

Often it takes 18 months to get through the Steps
once. For this blog, the pace is one-a-day, but it really makes no difference
how fast you do it, only that you begin, persist and repeat. Posts here provide
a trail that may let you have a virtual companion when and if you want one. One
may have to study alone, as I did in the beginning. There are other Steps
students blogging their experience and you might find a person more like you as
a companion, or use a number of such Steps journeys. There are options as well
through the Free School of the New Message.